Poor seeking charity’s help soars by 60%

CALLS seeking help from St Vincent de Paul have soared by over 60% in the past year and more than a quarter of a million households are receiving assistance from the charity.

There are also 70,000 Irish children in consistent poverty and almost 300,000 children live in a household with a total income of less than €300 a week.

The society’s vice-president, Professor John Monaghan, said that figure represented “70,000 children without a warm meal every day or a second pair of shoes”.